A big step toward justice in Texas

Texas must mandate that prosecutors share mitigating evidence with the accused.

Copyright 2013: Houston Chronicle

Published 7:26 pm, Friday, April 19, 2013

In the wake of Michael Morton's exoneration after spending 25 years in jail, it has been emphasized that prosecutors aren't merely charged with locking up criminals - they're charged with doing justice. Now that state district Judge Louis Sturns has issued an arrest warrant for Judge Ken Anderson - the disgraced former Williamson County district attorney who prosecuted Morton - we get a sense that justice is being done.

In a courtroom Friday packed with reporters, state senators and Michael Morton himself sitting front row, onlookers watched as a new era of criminal justice began in Texas - an era in which prosecutors are held responsible for their actions.

Judge Sturns apologized to Morton on behalf of the state of Texas and the judiciary in Williamson County before finally getting to the heart of matter. Probable cause existed to find Anderson had committed the three charges against him: criminal contempt of court, tampering with physical evidence and tampering with government records.

Anderson knew his obligations to the court during that now-infamous 1987 murder trial, but he refused to turn over evidence favorable to Morton and instead doomed the innocent man to life in prison for a crime he didn't commit. That life sentence was thankfully cut short in 2010 when, after years of pleading by Morton, DNA evidence tied the murder of Morton's wife to a known felon, Mark Norwood. One could argue that by suppressing evidence to convict Morton, Anderson is responsible for Norwood's murder of an Austin woman two years later.

But this is not about Anderson; this is about justice.

Morton himself has not called for revolution, and he has denied being a crusader, but he cannot deny that his plight has started an upheaval in Texas' criminal justice system.

After all, his name is attached to the first change to Texas' discovery rules in nearly 50 years. The Michael Morton bill (SB 1611), which unanimously passed the Texas Senate earlier this month, would codify and mandate evidence sharing between prosecutors and defendants to hopefully prevent any similar cases in the future. Though perhaps Anderson's mug shot will be a more dire warning to renegade prosecutors.

Now the state House has to vote on the bill and send it to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature.

If passed, the Morton bill would reduce wrongful convictions. It would save taxpayer dollars wasted on unnecessarily long trials that could have been resolved by sharing evidence.

Most importantly, it would help restore the public's faith in courts shaken by all too many exonerations of innocent people railroaded by an unfair system.

As state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said after the crowd left Sturns' courtroom: "Today is a step towards justice, but more remains to be done."